short-tailed shrew
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What is a short-tailed shrew?
The short-tailed shrew is any of three North American insectivores of the genus Blarina that physically resemble voles. They are among the largest North American shrews, with reddish-tipped teeth, minute eyes, and small ears concealed in their fur.
These shrews are active year-round, foraging for invertebrates, small salamanders, reptiles, and mice. They have toxic saliva, which is used to immobilize prey. Short-tailed shrews navigate and locate prey through squeaks, clicks, twitters, and ultrasonic sounds, using echolocation. They mark their territories with odorous secretions.
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Where does the short-tailed shrew live?
The short-tailed shrew, of the genus Blarina, is a North American insectivore. They range from southern Canada through the north-central and northeastern United States to eastern Texas and Florida. Short-tailed shrews inhabit environments with tall or dense grass in the western portion of their range, hardwood and coniferous forests in the east, and palmetto groves along the Gulf of Mexico. Their habitat must provide plenty of cover, and the soil must be well-drained but retain enough moisture to keep the burrows humid. They spend the majority of their time underground in burrows.
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What does a short-tailed shrew eat?
The short-tailed shrew forages for food day and night, all year long. They are voracious eaters, consuming about half their weight each day. Their diet consists of invertebrates like earthworms, slugs, snails, and insects. They also eat small salamanders, reptiles, mice, roots, beechnuts, berries, sunflower seeds, and fungi. Short-tailed shrews have a high metabolism and must eat frequently, as they cannot survive without food for more than a few hours.
The saliva of the short-tailed shrew contains toxins used to immobilize prey, especially snails, for later consumption.
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How does a short-tailed shrew find its food?
The short-tailed shrew uses multiple methods to find food. They have acute senses of hearing, smell, and touch, which they use to probe in soil and litter. They also use a repertoire of squeaks, clicks, twitters, and ultrasonic sounds to navigate and locate prey via echolocation.
These shrews are active day and night, all year round, with short rest periods. They forage for invertebrates, small salamanders, reptiles, and mice. They also eat roots, beechnuts, berries, sunflower seeds, and fungi. Short-tailed shrews have a high metabolism and consume about half their weight each day.
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What special features does the short-tailed shrew have?
The short-tailed shrew has several unique features. They have minute, degenerate eyes and small ears concealed in their fur. Their saliva contains neurotoxins and hemotoxins that, when chewing, are introduced into a wound to immobilize prey, such as mice and invertebrates, for later consumption. They use a range of squeaks, clicks, twitters, and ultrasonic sounds to navigate and locate prey via echolocation. Short-tailed shrews also mark their territories using odorous secretions from scent glands because their sight is limited to light detection.
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How do short-tailed shrews help their ecosystem?
Short-tailed shrews, active day and night, play a role in their ecosystems by preying on invertebrates, small vertebrates, seeds, and fungi. They help control populations of insects, snails, and mice. They use their toxic saliva to immobilize prey, especially snails, storing them for later consumption. These shrews also contribute to soil aeration through their burrowing activities, using tunnels created themselves or by other animals like moles or voles. They mark their territories with odorous secretions.
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short-tailed shrew, (genus Blarina), any of three species of North American insectivores that resemble voles in body form. All have minute, degenerate eyes and small ears concealed in the fur. Within the moderately long and pointed muzzle are reddish-tipped teeth. Blarina species are among the largest North American shrews, weighing up to 30 grams (1.1 ounces), with a body 8 to 11 cm (3 to 4 inches) long. The dense, soft, and velvety fur is brownish gray, slate, or black on the upperparts and slightly paler on the underparts. The short, furred tail and feet are gray. The coat is glossy.
Active all year, day or night, short-tailed shrews forage in leaf litter and fallen grass for invertebrates (primarily earthworms, slugs, snails, and insects), and they pursue small salamanders, reptiles, and mice. Their saliva contains a neurotoxin and a hemotoxin that are introduced into a wound by chewing. These toxins are used primarily to immobilize mice and invertebrates, especially snails, which are stored for later use. Their diet also includes roots, beechnuts, berries, sunflower seeds, and fungi. Voracious eaters, short-tailed shrews consume about half their weight each day and must also drink frequently.
Short-tailed shrews travel on the ground, using runways through surface litter and snow. Most of their time, however, is spent underground in burrows they excavate or in those constructed by moles or voles. Burrows are usually 10 cm below the surface but can be 50 cm deep. Inside they are flat on the top and bottom, not the usual cylindrical form made by other burrowing mammals. The shrews dig with their strong front feet, removing loose soil from the tunnel by either kicking it out with their hind feet or pushing it out with their muzzle. Within tunnel systems, territories are marked by odorous secretions from scent glands on the body, as sight is restricted to light detection. The shrew uses a large repertoire of squeaks, clicks, twitters, and ultrasonic sounds to navigate and to locate prey via echolocation.
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Nests, lined with dry vegetation or fur, are made in burrows beneath rotting logs, tree stumps, or rocks or in crevices of building foundations. During copulation the male and female are locked together for up to 25 minutes, and the inactive male is dragged behind the active female. Three to four litters, usually of 5 to 7 (but up to 10) young, are produced between spring and autumn; the gestation period is very short—17 to 22 days.
Short-tailed shrews range from southern Canada through the north-central and northeastern United States to eastern Texas and Florida. They inhabit environments with tall or dense grass in the western portion of the range, hardwood and coniferous forest in the east, and palmetto groves along the Gulf of Mexico. Habitat must provide plenty of cover, and the soil must be well drained but retain enough moisture to keep the burrows humid.
The three species in the genus Blarina are the northern (B. brevicauda), the southern (B. carolinensis), and Elliot’s (B. hylophaga) short-tailed shrew. Blarina is one of many genera classified with “true shrews” of the family Soricidae in the order Soricimorpha, which belongs to a larger group of mammals referred to as insectivores. Their evolutionary history extends back to the late Pliocene Epoch (3.6 to 2.6 million years ago) of North America.